


WanderTale

by SunnyMischief



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Cinnamon Roll Papyrus, F/M, Female!Frisk, Fluff, Hidden Magic, Main Character is My OC, Mom Toriel, Not What She Seems, Sans Being Sans, Wandering Off, buried secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-07-25 11:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7531372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyMischief/pseuds/SunnyMischief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Not all those who wander are lost." </p><p>Meet Dawn, a young girl who wandered off to a place far more enchanting than she ever could have imagined after following a mysterious light that, strangely, only she can see. On this journey, while disguised as a monster, she will encounter strange friends, find adventure, and meet a "humorous" skeleton who will make her feel happy again.</p><p>Oh, and one more thing: Dawn has magic. Magic that can... lead her to strange places.<br/>Magic that others are desperate to steal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wandering Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my very own Undertale AU!  
> Starring my very own Original Character!  
> Enjoy everyone!

Dawn always had a habit of wandering off. For as long as she could remember, she would run off at random intervals, much to the annoyance of, well, pretty much everyone. But it wasn’t her fault, or so she would claim. Dawn always had the same excuse: “I saw something and I _needed_ to follow it.” What it was that she saw, she could never really explain. And if she could, no one would believe her. After all, who would believe a little girl who claimed to have seen some strange, flickering light in the woods? Everyone thought it was simply a product of her childlike imagination.

Her wanderings were even more difficult for her parents to deal with in the early years of her life. They had lived in a quaint little house near the forest, and no matter how many locks they placed in the house, Dawn would always find a way out. No one could explain how. She’d nearly mastered the art since she had _mostly_ mastered walking as a very young girl. It was the same routine: At some point during the day, mostly during the night, Dawn would stir and find a way out of the house; where upon the house alarm would go off, alerting her parents to go off and find her not too deep in the woods.

This was the way things were in Dawn’s simple life- at least, only for the first five years. Then everything changed.

It was on a night like any other. Dawn had been asleep in bed, but was awoken by a strong odor. Smoke. She bolted up in bed. The air was so stuffy; she could hardly breathe or see anything. Her five-year-old self didn’t know what was happening or what to do. So she began to cry out. _But nobody came._ She was so afraid. The hot air stung her eyes, causing tears to run down her face. And then she saw it. Right outside her window near the beginning of the forest was the very thing she always saw before wandering off. That pinprick of light. It was so small yet so bright.

 _I need to follow it._ She thought.

_I need to follow it outside._

She first tried to reach for the door handle, but she could tell it was burning hot as her hand nearly came close to touching it. Next she tried the window. Her parents must have forgotten to lock it -at least that's how she remembered it- for it slid open smoothly. It was a one-story house so she didn’t have to worry about jumping from the window. It was only two or three feet from the ground. She ran to the opening in the woods, towards that light, but not before looking back at her little house. It was up in flames, flames that were quickly spreading. She had to keep moving, away from the heat. So she wandered off into the forest, after the light. Only this time it wasn’t her parents that eventually found her. It was policemen.

At first she didn’t understand that she was the only one who made it out of the inferno. She didn’t understand what an orphanage was, or why she had to live there for now. The only thing she did understand was that had she not wandered off, she would not have survived. Her wanderings weren’t so ridiculous after all.

**Ten Years Later**

After the accident Dawn had been moved to the Ebott Orphanage. Its name was derived from its close proximity to Mount Ebott. Dawn had lived at the Ebott Orphanage for 10 years now. She was 15 years of age, and had not yet been adopted. She partially understood why. Just because she lived somewhere different, didn’t mean she had stopped wandering off. That mysterious light was always there, and no one would want a child who was too much of a handful for even the skilled caretakers. But she never believed that was the only reason why. She soon discovered the other reason.

She was sitting in the Headmistress’s office, waiting for her to arrive and once again punish her for wandering away, when she noticed the open file on the Headmistress’s desk. It had Dawn’s name on it. She had never seen her own file before.

_It wouldn’t hurt to take a peek would it? After all it contained information about her... and her parents._

Dawn took one quick look around before finally snatching the file. The children were never allowed to touch their files. She was so desperate to learn about her past, to learn about where she came from; she had been here so long and for most of her young life that she had begun to forget. She hungrily read through the documents, searching for anything about her parents, anything about her lineage that she could hold on to- to remember.

Then she found it. A file about her family history. The one file that would change her life. The one file that would make her view her own self in an entirely different perspective.

 _Oh._ She thought. _So that’s why no potential parent wanted to even see me._

She stared at the file for what felt like an eternity. At least now she understood why she still hadn’t been adopted. Forget her wanderings. _No one_ would want someone who has that much guilt written in their past. No one would want to live with that kind of guilt. They’d want to forget it, or not have it all together.

Needless to say, the sudden revelation disturbed her. When the Headmistress arrived, Dawn had barely paid attention to the all too familiar lecture. All she could remember hearing was _“…and don’t ever let me catch you wandering off the orphanage grounds again young lady.”_

Dawn couldn’t keep this new information bubbled inside her. She had to talk to someone. There was only one person who she could talk to. Another orphan who always listened to what she had to say.  They were always patient, and didn’t mind when Dawn wandered off. They were as sweet as sugar, and as shy as a mouse, only choosing to speak to less than a handful of people, with Dawn being part of that special few.

It was time to talk to Frisk.


	2. It’s The Little Things That Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the smaller things that comfort you the most. 
> 
> But sometimes, even that isn't enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's September 15! And you know what that means! Happy 1st Anniversary Undertale! Thank you Toby Fox for making such a beautiful game!
> 
> Also, check out my DeviantArt where I'll post art about my fanfic!  
> http://sunnymischief.deviantart.com/

Dawn could still remember the day they brought Frisk to the Ebott Orphanage. Dawn was 8 years old and Frisk was just a tiny baby. Dawn became entranced by her the moment she first laid eyes on her in her cradle. Her smaller than average size made her look just _so_ adorable. The two of them had been inseparable ever since. Once Frisk learned how to walk, she would follow Dawn everywhere. Dawn finally had a friend who wouldn’t judge or berate her for wandering away occasionally.

Now, Dawn was 15, and Frisk was only 7 years of age, but she was always willing to listen to Dawn’s ramblings and comfort her when needed. After all, the only friends they had were each other. In fact, Frisk was almost like a sister to Dawn. They even had a few similar physical traits. Both had brown hair, with Frisk’s being shoulder length and Dawn’s reaching just above her mid-back. Both girls had brown eyes; at least Dawn thought Frisk did. Frisk’s eyes were rather small. And lastly, the girls were a bit on the short side, although Dawn was nowhere near as short as Frisk. Not to mention that they both favored striped sweaters. Frisk always wore her blue sweater with two purple stripes, while Dawn wore her white sweater with three gray stripes.

Dawn hurried out to the garden, located in the back of the orphanage. She would always find Frisk playing among the golden flowers.

After entering the rather small garden, it only took Dawn a few moments to spot Frisk, lying comfortingly on the golden flower bed, petals ruffled throughout her short brown hair. Dawn quietly made her way towards the resting figure, careful not to disturb her. Once directly behind Frisk, Dawn pounced, snatching her up into a tickle fight. The startled Frisk could do nothing but laugh and try to escape the unexpected attack.

“*I give up! Mercy, mercy!” Frisk managed to say between fits of giggling.

Dawn ended her attack and brought Frisk into a hug. Frisk always was the little pacifist. After letting go, Dawn began to pick the seeds and petals from Frisk’s tangled hair.

“*Did you get in trouble with the Headmistress?” Frisk questioned, sensing something was off.

“Just the usual lecture about wandering off and how it’s ‘dangerous’. But…I saw something Frisk. Something I don’t think I was supposed to see.”

“*What do you mean?”

“I found my file. The Headmistress must have left it out by mistake so, I opened it. And what was inside wasn’t very good.”

“*Do you want to talk about it?”

And so she did talk about it. She always needed to discuss whatever was bothering her. Dawn told Frisk everything that was in the file, and how it explained a lot about why potential foster parents rejected her, and why the caretakers didn’t respect her.

“*Woah. I’m sorry Dawn.” Frisk responded consolingly after hearing the news.

“It isn’t your fault. I guess now I understand why they would never let me know about my own past. Still, I had a right to know from the beginning. No wonder nearly everyone hates me. This isn’t fair!” Dawn angrily replied.

“*Maybe they just wanted to protect you from the truth. They didn’t want you to feel all that guilt that your parents felt. And besides, I don’t care about what everyone else thinks about you! We’re still friends, and I love you for being you.”

“Love you too Frisk.” Dawn said as tears welled up in her eyes.

For the next few minutes, they sat together, Frisk wrapped in Dawn’s arms as they watched the clouds go by, with a gentle breeze blowing as birds sang in the distance. It was peaceful this way. It eased Dawn’s soul.

Then Dawn looked towards Mt. Ebott. It loomed in the distance. Every so often she would be woken in the middle of the night by that annoying light only she could see. It always tried to lure her away, towards the mountain, but recently she had done her best to ignore it. However, that wasn’t always easy, and she often gave in, opting to follow it, but only when it appeared in the daylight hours. She refused to follow it at night, ever since the house fire. Many nights ago she woke Frisk, asking if she could see it too, but to no avail. That light irritated her, even if it did save her life all those years ago.

Frisk noticed Dawn spacing out, and followed her gaze to the mountain. Frisk knew all about the light that only Dawn could see. Even if Frisk couldn’t see it, she still believed it was what would cause her dear friend to wander off. Frisk never followed Dawn off the orphanage grounds, as she was too afraid of what lied beyond.

“*Dawn, are you okay. Do you…see it again?” Frisk questioned.

“Huh? No, I’m alright Frisk. No light this time.” Dawn said reassuringly.

“*Do you think you see it because-“

“Because of what that file says about me? Yeah…makes sense.” Dawn interrupted.

“But don’t worry Frisk…” Dawn continued. “I’m not going anywhere.”

**Later That Night**

Dawn was restless. She couldn’t fall asleep no matter what she tried. That stupid file was really starting to eat away at her insides. She really thought talking about it with Frisk would help- Frisk could always calm her down- but this was different. This was something that practically turned her world upside-down. This revelation of who she was, who she _really_ was, was just too much to bear.

Anxious, she turned on her side, facing the far-side of the room, where Frisk lay sound asleep in her small bed. Every bedroom in the Ebott Orphanage was shared by two people. That was the rule. Dawn was fortunate that they let her be with Frisk.

Dawn sat up in her own bed, obviously too frustrated to sleep. She looked out the window, where she had a perfect view of Mt. Ebott.

_It’s their fault. They trapped them. It shouldn’t be my job to feel their guilt._ Dawn thought to herself.

Just as she decided to attempt sleeping again, she saw it. Outside the window, was that stupid light, beckoning her to follow. Of course it would show up now of all times.

_No. I won’t play your stupid game._

Dawn turned away, irritated. But then she began to think about what Frisk said earlier. How she now had a reason for always seeing that light. Now she had a good reason to follow it too. But, she told herself she would never follow at night. It was too dangerous and risky. But still…the curiosity began to set in her mind. Dawn could never get far in the day. The caretakers and Headmistress always found her before she could get too far. Now she could get away, probably farther than she’s usually gotten.

_Fine. Just this once._

Ever so quietly, Dawn crept out of bed, putting on her striped sweater, black pants, and shoes. She silently stepped towards the window, testing to see if it was unlocked. It was. She carefully slid the window up. But before climbing through, she turned back to look at Frisk, still peacefully asleep. She tip-toed her way to Frisk and knelt down, placing a kiss on her forehead.

“I’m sorry Frisk. Be good. I love you.” Dawn whispered.

With that, Dawn slipped out the window and took off running towards the light. It was leading her to the mountain. Mt. Ebott wasn’t that far off, and Dawn was always a good runner. She reached the bottom of the mountain in minutes. The light had vanished.

“Ok, what now?” She questioned.

She looked around to see if the light had moved or changed direction. She looked up to see the light nearly at the top of the mountain.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” She said as she began climbing.

The climb wasn’t as difficult as she had anticipated. The ground was smooth and not too steep, but it sure was a long way up. Rocks of all shapes and sizes littered the mountain’s side. There were a couple trees and other flora as well. After what felt like climbing for an eternity, Dawn decided to look down. She was amazed at how high up she was. The light had since disappeared, and the moon was covered by clouds, so she could barely see anything, but she decided to keep going.

_This better be worth it._ Dawn thought. Her legs were aching and she was almost out of breath.

_If you’ve led me up all the way here for nothing, I’m gonna-_

Dawn couldn’t finish her thought, as she tripped on an unseen vine, falling forward. She expected to hit the ground, only she didn’t. She just kept falling.

And falling.

And falling.

Her screams echoed into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought since it's Undertale's anniversary, I'd have Dawn fall into the Underground the same day that Frisk first fell. 
> 
> Well, here we go.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoy my own Undertale AU!  
> Yes, we are starting this thing off with a lot of unanswered questions. What's in Dawn's file that's so awful? What is this light that leads Dawn everywhere and nowhere? You'll have to keep reading to find out. :)  
> I've read so many good fanfics, I figured it was time to give back to the community. I really hope to get my story out there, so thank you all for your support!


End file.
